Neville Cameron

Neville Cameron
Born	9 October 1873 Southsea, Hampshire, England
Died	5 December 1955 (aged 82)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1892−1931
Rank	Major-General
Service number	21851
Unit	Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
Commands	103rd (Tyneside Irish) Brigade 151st (Durham Light Infantry) Brigade 49th (West Riding) Division 16th Infantry Brigade 12th Infantry Brigade 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division
Battles / wars	Second Boer War First World War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George

Major-General Neville John Gordon Cameron CB, CMG (9 October 1873 – 5 December 1955) was a British Army officer who served with distinction in many conflicts throughout his almost forty years of military service, most notably during the First World War, serving successively as a staff officer and a brigade and division commander.

Military career

Born in Southsea, Hampshire, the third son of General Sir William Gordon Cameron and educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Cameron was commissioned into the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders in December 1892.

He saw action in the Sudan in 1898 during the Mahdist War. He was present at the Battle of Atbara and the Siege of Khartoum He then served in the Second Boer War, also known as the South African War, from 1900 to 1902. He served with the 2nd Brigade as its brigade major from August 1909 until September 1913, before becoming a staff officer at the War Office in London.

Shortly after the British entry into World War I in August 1914, Cameron went to France with the 1st Division as its Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General. Following the conclusion of this assignment, he was a General Staff Officer Grade 1 with Scottish Command and later the 34th Division, with which he fought in the Battle of the Somme in the second half of 1916, by which time he was commanding the 34th Division's 103rd (Tyneside Irish) Brigade, having assumed command of the brigade the previous December. Cameron was badly wounded by enemy machine gun fire on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Somme offensive, and his brigade sustained severe casualties.

After recovering from his injuries, he became commander of the 151st (Durham Light Infantry) Brigade, part of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division, on the Western Front in September 1916 and then, after being promoted to the temporary rank of major general in October 1917, became General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division also on the Western Front. He commanded the division during all the major battles of the Lys offensive in April 1918 and in the Hundred Days Offensive in autumn 1918 during the final stages of the First World War.

After handing over his command in June 1919, he became commander of 16th Infantry Brigade in Ireland in January 1921 and commander of 12th Infantry Brigade in November 1923 before returning to command the 49th (West Riding) Division again between 1926 and 1930.

He was colonel of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders from 1929 to 1943.

Bibliography

• Davies, Frank (1997). Bloody Red Tabs: General Officer Casualties of the Great War 1914–1918. London: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-0-85052-463-5.